Passion in a Bowl: Queen of Sheba Beet Salad

This salad has always been a show stopper when ever I serve it, and with the upcoming harvest of lucious tomatoes and fresh beets from the garden, it is the perfect late summer- Leo time to make it.

I first made this salad for a women's retreat on Kaua'i,where each day we studied and danced one of the elements and Buddha families. This one is connected to the Padma Family.The padma family is all about passion, love, sexuality and the element of fire. You can make this dish with many variations as well- but keeping it in the realm of sweet and spicy is the way I like to do it.

What you need:

Beets, cooked peeled and sliced.

(using a few yellow beets or those amazing Chioggia striped ones are fun,too)

1 red onion chopped

1 red pepper either fresh or roasted

1 cup of pitted, ripe cherries + /or raspberries

2 cups of the ripest tomatoes you can pick or buy, chopped

Then drizzle some red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar and a tad of sesame oil and toss everything. Then add some Himalayan pink salt and pepper to taste. I also like to add a shot of either Siracha or Crystal hot sauce from Louisiana, and a hit of Thai sweet chili sauce.

Garnish with flowers like calendula or rose petals.

Sometimes I have also done this salad with mandarin oranges.Blood oranges would be good too, not too many tho as the citrus will change the taste if too many.

I hope you enjoy this recipe- such as it is. As you can see I do not really measure as much as toss stuff together.

Like love and life in general, it is good to not get too tight but to assemble it with joy + a bit of abandon.

Here's to Passion, Fire and Leo time !

#cooking #passion #food #stories #sexy #lunch #love #life #recipes